Mostly thought to come from the Frankish word *grīma(“mask, sorcerer”) which is also the origin of the word grimace. Another source could be the Italian word rimario ("book of rhymes") which eventually adopted a hard "g" as it moved to France. Either way, the word melded with the French word grimaire an old spelling of the word grammaire(“grammar”), Génin, as well as Littré, suggest "grammar" in the meaning of "study of Latin" and "profound and occult science".

Mostly thought to come from the Frankish word *grīma(“mask, sorcerer”) which is also the origin of the word grimace. Another source could be the Italian word rimario ("book of rhymes") which eventually adopted a hard "g" as it moved to France. Either way, the word melded with the French word grimaire an old spelling of the word grammaire(“grammar”), Génin, as well as Littré, suggest "grammar" in the meaning of "study of Latin" and "profound and occult science". Old Frenchgramaire, from Ancient Greekγραμματικός(grammatikós, “knowing how to read and write”).